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“Mr. Milkovich, I’m not entirely sure what you’re asking me here,” the lady - Keandra - says with a soft, tired sigh, leaning back in her chair as she regards Mickey carefully. “The house check has already-”
“-Been done and failed, yeah, I got that, I was there,” Mickey huffs, leaning his elbows against his knees and hunching over a bit. His foot taps anxiously, wringing his hands together. He slapped on a pair of Iggy’s fingerless gloves to hide his tattoos for this. “I want to know if it’s possible to do it again, but in another house. Mine, to be specific.”
Her eyebrows raise, cocking her head to the side. “Well… not exactly. Philip failed his house check-”
“Yeah yeah, but what about me?” Mickey asks. “What if - since we’re in a relationship and all - he and Xan lived with me?”
Keandra sighs heavily and rubs her mouth, looking him up and down. “You two really wanna foster this girl, huh?”
Mickey smiles slightly. “He really, really cares about her. And… listen, that house check was fucking rigged.” Her lips quirk up, curious of his reasoning on this one. Mickey rubs the corner of his mouth, choosing his words carefully. “His older sister shouldn’t have done the house check, especially when we weren’t done fixing the house up. That hole- his younger sister was fixing the furnace and got distracted playing with her girlfriend of whatever. We were still discussing room arrangements and all, trying to get Xan a room with one of the girls, and Lip literally bought her a bunk bed when the house check happened. It was all just bad timing and, personally, I don’t think that’s fair.”
Keandra smiles, shaking her head slightly. “I can see your point, but that’s the whole point of a house check. It needs to be ready immediately, especially if she was already staying there.”
Mickey nods slowly. “Okay… but what about my place?”
She sighs, swiveling in her chair a bit. “There are a few problems with that.”
“Hit me.”
“Well, for starters, your father,” she starts, making him grimace. She pulls up documents on her computer. “Yes, we all know of Terry Milkovich. Countless arrests, reports of domestic violence, reports of assault, illegal possession of guns and drugs…”
“He’s in prison,” Mickey says quickly. “We can make sure he never steps foot in the house again.”
She eyes him out of the corner of her eye. “How so?”
Mickey laughs slightly. “Well- okay, not like that. I mean… could get a restraining order?”
“Doesn’t he own the house you live in?”
“No,” he shakes his head. “No, my mother does.”
Keandra frowns a bit. “And… where is she?”
Mickey clears his throat. “Dunno… ran off.”
Keandra leans back in her chair, pursing her lips. “Unique situation, I’ll give you that.”
“What will it take?” Mickey asks. “Seriously, I’ll do anything. Just… what will it take?”
She rubs her temple, thinking it over. Mickey chews on his lip nervously, looking around the office with an anxious grimace. He can hear conversations from other cubicles, but they’re soft and he can’t make them out. He sees a few people walking around, some nervous and others excited. Mickey wonders if they’re here to adopt or foster.
“Okay,” Keandra finally says, digging through her desk for something. “There’s only one thing we can do - what we did with Mr. Gallagher.” Mickey sits up when she pulls out a few packets of paperwork, taking them when she hands them over. “You will have to foster Xan yourself and complete a house check, background and history check, along with everyone who lives in that house - if any at all - state registration check, and so on.”
Mickey stares at the paperwork for a moment, taken aback. “Wait- me? I have to apply?”
“Philip already failed his house check, so the system won’t bother with a background check,” she explains. “He won’t be able to try again for a while. If you, however, apply, and pass, you can foster her, and therefore, so can Philip.”
He gapes at her for a moment, glancing around and leaning forward, lowering his voice. “Um… am I even able to apply? I’ve been to juvie multiple times…”
She hums. “For?”
Mickey shrugs a bit. “Theft, mostly… I think once for possession of drugs, but my dad was blamed for it, so I only had to go for a few weeks.”
She smiles. “Well, according to our state regulations, those don’t fall under the “absolute cannot foster or adopt children” so yes, you can apply. For now, we will be sending Xan to another foster family who is able to take her until the process is complete. It will take at least three months, if you’re still up for it.”
“Right…” Mickey nods slowly, looking down at the paperwork. “Right, okay… can I get back to you on this?”
“Of course.”
“Hey, you guys busy today?” Mickey asks as he walks into the kitchen of his home, setting down the bags of cleaning supplies he picked up from the store.
Iggy and Colin look up from their lunch, both eyeing the bags Mickey set down. “Not really,” Colin answers, speaking through a mouthful of PB&J. “Why? You need someone killed?”
“Nope,” Mickey sighs, turning to face them, “we need to clean this shithole.”
The two stare at him. “What?” Iggy asks, eyebrows furrowed.
“I need your help cleaning the house,” Mickey says, leaning against the counter. “I, uh… do you remember Xan?”
“The little black girl Lip’s taking care of?” Colin asks.
“Yeah,” Mickey nods. “Uh… Lip failed his house check and… I’m gonna try and foster her instead for him…”
Iggy chokes on his food. “W-What? Foster- in this house?”
“Look, just hear me out,” Mickey almost pleads, watching his older brothers look at each other in disbelief. “This kid means a lot to Lip and she’s actually a good kid. You’ve met her! It wouldn’t be so bad to have her living here, right? She could stay in Mandy’s old room and-”
“Mick,” Iggy interrupts him, rubbing his temple with a sigh, “what about dad?”
“Could get a restraining order,” Mickey almost mumbles, looking down. He can feel their eyes boring into him. “He doesn’t own this house…”
“You really think he’ll follow a piece of paper?” Iggy asks, voice serious. “We can’t keep him away forever, Mick.” The kitchen falls quiet, the three brothers thinking about the situation. Mickey looks up, eyeing Colin before he looks to their eldest brother, eyes practically pleading. He hasn’t given Iggy this look since he was a kid and had much more innocent features that pushed Iggy to do whatever he wanted. He sees Iggy’s hard expression falter, turn considering, and then he finally sighs. “Fine.”
“Really?” Both Colin and Mickey say, surprised.
Iggy shrugs. “Terry isn’t coming out for a few years. We can worry about him then.”
Mickey slumps in relief. “Thanks, man.”
“You owe us,” Iggy points at him, standing up and shucking off his jacket. “Besides, this place does need cleaning up. With Mandy gone…”
It’s true - Mandy and their mother were the ones who kept the house relatively clean. Mickey cleaned up after himself, but his room was a fucking nightmare to walk through. Colin was a slob and Iggy usually forgot to clean up his shit, just not as bad as Colin. Terry is a whole other story. With both the women of the house gone, they kind of let the place go to shit.
This cleaning was long overdue.
Mickey makes his way into the motorcycle shop with a curious glance around. He’s always thought about riding one of these things, just never got around to do so. He’s pretty sure Jamie owns a motorcycle.
“Hey, Lip, your boyfriend is here!” Brad calls from behind the counter, shooting Mickey a smirk when he gives him an annoyed look. Mickey likes Brad - he’s pretty chill and was a whole lot of help when Lip was going through his drinking problem.
“Oh hey!” Lip looks up from his work, grinning a bit as Mickey walks closer. “What’re you doing here?”
“Lunch,” Mickey says, holding up a bag of burgers and fries. “Thought I’d stop by.”
“Ah, you’re the best,” Lip smiles brightly, kissing Mickey’s cheeks when he’s close enough. Mickey bats him away, setting the food down beside the bike Lip is working on. Lip pulls up his stool in front of Mickey and sits down, digging into the bag with a grateful hum. “See Ian today?”
“Yeah,” Mickey nods, biting into a few of his fries. “He’s doing alright. His cellmate is a bit of a pansy so nothing bad is going on between them.”
“I was worried he’d become somebody’s bitch,” Lip jokes, taking a bite from his burger.
Mickey chuckles, staring down at his box of fries for a moment. “Xan doing okay?”
Lip’s shoulders slump a bit, the cheerful expression on his face falling. Mickey’s heart pangs a little. “Yeah. She called and said she settled in alright. She’s sharing a room with two girls that are treating her nicely, so that’s good.”
Mickey smiles sadly, setting his fries down. “At least she’s safe.” Lip nods solemnly in agreement.
It’s been two weeks since Mickey agreed to the fostering process to get Xan back to them. He submitted a background check and is still waiting for his results, though according to Keandra, he’ll pass. He had to send in proof his dad would be in prison for a few more years and filed for a restraining order against him to keep the old fuck away from Xan at all times. Colin submitted a background check as well as he still lives in the house, but the brothers agreed to have Iggy stay with his girlfriend until the process is over as they all know he won’t pass a background check - he’s been arrested for assault on more than one occasion.
Hey, they’re Milkovichs - got to cheat somewhere in the system.
The house is in the best shape it’s ever seen in years - hell, Mickey even cleaned up his room for the first time since middle school. Sure, he kept food and most of the trash out over the years, but he hasn’t seen his whole floor in a long while. His room seems a lot bigger now.
They stashed the guns and weapons away in the attic in a locked chest and made sure any of Iggy’s stash was relocated to his friend’s place. They adjusted Mandy’s old room to look more like a kid’s room instead of a goth teen’s lair - as Colin eloquently described it - buying purple sheets and toys and shit they assumed girls liked. Mandy wasn’t exactly a “girly girl” growing up, and their parents never bought her typical girl shit so the boys were winging it.
And to add the cherry on top, Mickey has applied to a few different places around town for work. Keandra told him he must have a job to support Xan as he can’t rely on the couple hundreds of bucks the government will apparently give him to help support some of her needs every month. Iggy made a joke about being a foster parent to get said money. Colin commented that sounds like something Terry would do if he was desperate.
During all of this, Mickey still hasn’t told Lip. He doesn’t want to get his hopes up on bringing Xan back because so many things could go wrong. He could fail his background check, could fail his house check. Maybe Colin will fail his background check or they’ll fail all the other state checks that are required. Maybe he won’t get hired and can’t support Xan, therefore, will be denied to care for her. The too many points of failure have kept Mickey’s mouth shut from dropping the news on his boyfriend that he’s trying to foster Xan for him.
Lip sighs heavily after he finishes his food, brushing his hands over his jeans. “I should get back to work.”
Mickey hums, checking his phone. “I should go then. Got an interview soon.”
Lip grins, already aware of Mickey’s job searching. “Remember what we went over?”
“Don’t mention guns, drugs, or anything illegal,” Mickey repeats, rolling his eyes. After his first job interview, where he treated the job as a job Terry usually took him on, he was let go rather quickly. After losing his temper, almost getting security on his ass, and complaining to Lip for a good hour about it, his boyfriend sat him down and taught him how to actually handle a job interview.
“Good,” Lip nods approvingly, leaning over and kissing him. Mickey hums softly, leaning into the kiss to savor the feeling before they pull away, exchanging gentle smiles before Mickey turns and heads out of the shop.
“Hi, I’m Madison Maela,” a woman greets Mickey as he opens the door, smiling sweetly to him. “I’m with the DCFS, here for the home safety check for a case opened by Mikhailo Milkovich?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” Mickey smiles back, stepping aside. “Come in.”
Madison is a pretty plus-sized woman, standing just a few inches taller than Mickey. She nods respectfully to him, her blonde curls bouncing a bit as she walks past him into the Milkovich house, clipboard in hand. Colin is sitting on the couch playing a video game, headphones on and not paying attention to the other two. Mickey is internally grateful Iggy isn’t here today - out with his friends working out a deal. He’ll have to send him a text to not come home anytime soon.
“Oh, who’s this?” Madison asks, smiling down at the blonde toddler watching Colin play his video game.
“Oh, that’s my son, Yevgeny,” Mickey answers.
“Yevgeny?” Madison hums, flipping up a few of the top papers with a slight frown. “He’s not on the list of people who live here?”
“He lives with my ex-wife,” Mickey explains, clearing his throat. “He comes over on the weekends sometimes. Sleeps either with me or in the spare bedroom.”
“Oh, that’s good,” she says, her smile back. “He’s a cutie. Can you show me around?”
“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Mickey nods, gesturing for her to follow.
Surprisingly, Mickey doesn’t lose his nerve the whole time. Madison is pretty chill, very polite, and asking questions with a patient glint in her eyes. Mickey tries to not stutter, his communication skills struggling just a tad as he explains the house’s condition. He shows her Mandy’s old room, his own room, the bathrooms of the house. He shows that the water works, the heating and AC, and makes note to fix the smoke alarm. She makes notes the whole time, checking things off and showing no sign of Mickey doing good or doing badly.
“Thank you, Mr. Milkovich,” she hums as he opens the front door for her, clicking her pen shut and shooting him a kind smile. “We will be in contact soon, I’m sure.” Mickey’s shoulders slump in relief. That must be a good sign. “Just remember to fix that smoke alarm, fix the lock on the girl’s bedroom windows, and you’ll be all set.”
“Yes, thank you,” Mickey nods. He waves her off and doesn’t go back inside until her car disappears down the street, pressing his back to the door and closing his eyes, letting out a loud sigh. “Christ…”
“That went well,” Colin comments, eyes not leaving the screen. “You good?”
“Yup,” Mickey nods, running a hand through his hair. “Yup, all good.”
Mickey can’t help but grin as he hangs up the phone, walking out to the kitchen to find his brothers and Iggy’s friends talking to each other. “We passed, Colin.”
Colin looks confused for a moment before his eyes widen in realization, grinning as he holds his beer up in celebration. “Hell yeah, bitches! I’m clean!”
The others cheer, clanking their beer bottles together. Mickey chuckles and grabs his own, cracking it open and shooting back a chug. With their background checks cleared, they’re much closer to getting Xan back. Mickey feels ecstatic, finding it much more difficult to hold his tongue around Lip. He can’t tell him - not yet.
“Lip!” Mickey calls out as he enters the Gallagher house. Liam doesn’t look up from his phone on the couch. Franny jumps to her feet on the couch, grinning up at Mickey. He grins and ruffles her red hair. “Hey, kid. Where’s your uncle Lip?”
“Upstairs!” she says, pointing to the staircase. He shoots her a thumbs up and heads up to find the second eldest Gallagher.
He checks Lip’s room, huffing when he doesn’t find him, but pauses when he hears the shower running. He smirks and heads towards the bathroom, knocking lightly on the door. “What?” Lip shouts from the shower. Getting the confirmation Lip is the one in there, Mickey walks inside and closes the door behind him. “Hey, ocupado,” Lip grumbles from behind the curtain.
Mickey silently pulls off his clothes quickly, yanking the curtain open halfway just to see Lip jump. His boyfriend scowls at him, splashing water at him as he climbs in. “Hey, sexy,” Mickey grins, tracing a finger down Lip’s chest. “I got good news.”
“Oh yeah?” Lip raises a brow.
Mickey grins, not able to hide his giddiness. “I got hired at that chicken and waffles place,” he says, watching Lip’s smile grow. “Gonna be a waiter. Lots of tips.”
“Well well, look at you,” Lip muses, grabbing Mickey’s waist and yanking him close, leaning down to graze his lips along his ear. “Getting a real job with good pay? I’m shocked.”
“Shut up,” Mickey laughs, tilting his head as Lip kisses down his neck. “I start Monday night. Maybe I can seduce some old rich fucks for good tips.”
“Go for it,” Lip hums, his hand sliding along his lower back and dipping down. “Just leave this for me.”
Mickey groans quietly, eyes fluttering shut as Lip’s fingers prod at his hole. His other hand wraps around his growing erection, making his hips buck slightly at his touch. Mickey wraps his arms around Lip’s neck, drawing him closer as Lip gropes at him. “Busy tonight?”
“Free after my shift,” Lip murmurs against his neck, stroking him slowly but tightly. Mickey hisses lightly when Lip presses a finger into him, pressing his temple against his shoulder. “Why? Wanna go out tonight?”
“Dinner sounds nice,” he breathes out, rocking between Lip’s hands. “Kinda hungry for your cock right now, though.”
“Smooth,” Lip chuckles, releasing Mickey’s cock to grab his hair, yanking his head back and smashing their lips together. Mickey moans and kisses him back, tongues pressing together and teeth bumping. He whimpers when Lip presses another finger into him, enjoying the burn that comes with it.
The water is lukewarm when Lip presses him against the shower wall, fucking hard and deep into him. Mickey moans and rocks back to meet his thrusts, head tilted back to rest against Lip’s shoulder, nose pressed against his jaw. Lip’s head is bowed forward, mouth brushing over his shoulder. Mickey shivers when Lip’s hand trails up to wrap around his neck loosely, the threat to cut his airflow off there. Mickey moans at the feeling.
“So proud of you, sweetheart,” Lip murmurs against his shoulder again, the affectionate nickname making Mickey’s heart flutter. “Very proud.”
“Don’t need to butter me up,” Mickey breathes out with a soft laugh, nosing against his jaw. “You’re already fucking me.”
Lip chuckles, thumb stroking along his jaw. “Shut up, you like being praised,” he sneers gently, kissing his shoulder. Mickey grunts in response, gasping when Lip’s other hand wraps around him again.
The water has run cold by the time they finish, only slightly ruining Mickey’s afterglow, but Lip’s warm body makes up for it. They exchange sweet kisses as they dry and get dressed, chuckling softly between kisses and murmuring to one another. When they finally leave the bathroom, they go downstairs to join the youngest Gallaghers in watching TV.
When they get ready to go to dinner a few hours later, Mickey hesitates when he sees Debbie and Carl aren’t home yet, and he in no way will rely on Fiona with her alcoholic ass lying around somewhere. A few years before, Mickey probably wouldn’t have given a flying fuck if kids were left on their own, but after raising Yevgeny with Svetlana and going through all this work to foster a kid for Lip, he can’t help but feel a little protective over the youngest Gallaghers. Sure, Liam could probably handle himself just fine, but what about Franny? She’s not even four yet.
Lip pauses at the front door, noticing Mickey’s hesitance, and follows his gaze to where Liam and Franny are still sitting on the couch. He seems to understand almost immediately and smiles. “Hey, you guys wanna go eat?”
Mickey relaxes when Franny jumps up in excitement and Liam shrugs in response, standing with her to grab his shoes.
“I’ve never seen you dress this nice,” Colin snickers as he finishes rolling up a joint, shooting Mickey an amused grin. The youngest brother rolls his eyes, looking down at himself with a slight grimace. Nothing too bad - tight black dress shirt with the logo of the joint he’s working at now and his new name badge, black jeans and black dress shoes. It all feels tight, framing every curve of his body. He grew up on sweats and loose t-shirts passed down by his brothers. This waiter get-up his boss gave him is definitely something out of his comfort zone, even though it isn’t anything bad. Just tight.
Lip might get a kick out of this. He has a weird obsession with his body.
“You’re officially the first Milkovich man to get a job since papa died,” Iggy comments, clapping Mickey on the back. Mickey’s lips twitch at the memory of their father’s dad - the only man in the family who actually gave a shit about them kids. Countless times he’d catch his papa and Terry fighting about them - threats of papa taking them from Terry always in the conversation, but he never did as Terry promised he’ll do better. They all knew he only said that to squeeze as much money out of them as he could. Iggy was always good with drugs, Colin with guns, and Mickey with runs. Terry took full advantage of that.
“I’m not sharing my tips with you guys, just so you know,” Mickey states, checking his pockets to make sure he has everything. “Get your own jobs.”
“Ugh, no fun,” Colin complains, stuffing the finished joint into the bag full of others. “I’ll stick with this shit.”
Mickey sneers at him for a moment. “Save some for me. I’ll buy after my shift.”
Colin and Iggy grin.
“I have good news,” Keandra smiles brightly as she sits down at her desk with Mickey, practically beaming. “Everything passed with flying colors.”
Mickey is honestly taken aback. “No shit?”
“Yes,” she nods, shuffling through some paperwork. “You’re eligible for a license now. You’ll receive another house safety check to make sure the notes have been completed. We will be contacting the current foster home holding Xan and schedule a day to have her move in.”
Mickey laughs in disbelief, running a hand through his hair. “Holy shit. I… I didn’t think this would happen.”
Her smile softens. “I’d be suspicious, but given your family history, I could see why you wouldn’t be surprised if something went wrong.”
“Right,” Mickey nods, leaning back in his seat. “So… if I pass this final check, I’ll be fostering Xan?”
“Yes,” Keandra hums. “We’ve already discussed her possible move with the parents and her and they’re all okay with it - given as the home is really full and Xan wouldn’t mind coming back to the Southside.”
“Does she know it’s me?”
“No, just knows the location at the moment.”
“Okay,” Mickey nods, feeling giddy with excitement. They’re so close…
Keandra smiles and hands him a few papers. “I’ll see you Friday, Mikhailo.”
“Mickey, table four,” Sasha tells him as she walks behind the counter to the register. He nods at her and finishes clipping two orders above the window to the kitchen, sighing tiredly as he makes his way out behind the counter for table four.
He’s been a waiter for two weeks now and it’s annoying as fuck. Mickey, not the best with communication, still wonders how he still has this damn job. He’s cursed multiple times - thankfully around Southsiders who don’t give a flying fuck if they hear the word fuck - talked rudely and made sassy comebacks at customers. He’s had three complaints already but his boss doesn’t seem to give a shit, his attitude worse than Mickey’s.
But the tips are fantastic and his pay is decent. Girls seem to find him funny and cute and tip the fuck out of him. He doesn’t see the appeal but he’ll take it. Some old queers tip him good as well, not to mention the dudes around his age. While Mickey can’t see a flirting comment even if it’s two inches in front of him, he can recognize those ‘fuck me’ eyes anywhere, and he sees a shitton of them during the dinner rush.
All and all, not too terrible for a first real job.
Mickey’s about to state his usual “Hello, my name is Mickey and I’ll be taking your orders” but stops when he sees who exactly is sitting at table four. “Hey,” Mickey grins.
“Hey, you,” Lip grins back, eyes glowing with amusement. “You look tired.”
Mickey sighs heavily, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, it’s been a long day. Hey, Franny. Debbie”
“Hi!” Franny waves at him, bouncing in her seat next to Debbie.
Mickey looks between the three. “Drinks?”
He takes their drink orders, delivers, then takes their food orders. He and the other waiters and waitresses are rushing around the joint, the kitchen in absolute chaos as they bust orders out left and right. Dinner rush is always a bitch to handle, but they always pull through.
An hour before closing and the three Gallaghers are still there, working through their deserts as they chit-chat with each other about who knows what. Mickey sees Franny bouncing in her seat happily, talking excitedly about something he can’t hear. It’s adorable to watch.
Mickey finishes cleaning off table eight when his phone buzzes in his pocket. He glances at it, seeing a text from Keandra, and quickly checks to make sure his boss isn’t watching to check the message.
Keandra: Schedule is all set. Xan will be dropped off at your house this Monday around noon.
Mickey stares at the screen, rereading the message over and over again as excitement builds up. He’s going to foster Xan now. He’s bringing her back to Lip.
He looks over at his boyfriend, feeling pride swell in his chest. He hasn’t done a lot of good in his life, has struggled over the years with their relationship and showing how much he actually cares for the Gallagher in a considerably healthy way. Lip has been so kind and patient with him, helping him with his inner homophobia and his ability to communicate and show affection. It’s been rough, so rough, but they still pulled through.
This is how Mickey can show his thanks properly for everything Lip has done - by bringing home the kid he missed so dearly.
The way Xan’s eyes widen when Mickey opens the front door warms his heart, her face full of shock and glee at the sight of him. She glances at the DCFS agent - someone Mickey doesn’t know - for confirmation this is her new foster dad before she drops her stuff to hug Mickey.
Mickey and Xan got along great when she first came around. Their fondness for Lip and similarities in shit parents brought them closer together, almost as close as Lip and Xan were.
She’s still clutching the pillow Lip gave her when Mickey sets her stuff down in her new room, eyes big and full of joy. Mickey leaves her to settle in, shooting Lip a text he’s coming over tonight. Lip texts him back ten minutes later he’ll order pizza.
“Not gonna lie, I thought Iggy would have the most kids first,” Colin comments when Mickey sits down next to him on the couch. “He’s a sucker for kids.”
“I know,” Mickey chuckles. “To be fair, my first one wasn’t my choice and this second one is a foster child, so not fully mine.”
“Still,” Colin nudges him, chuckling. “Nice thing you did for Lip. You’ve always been such a softy, Mick.”
“Shut up,” Mickey grumbles, but there’s no heat in his words. “He’s done a lot for me, so…” Colin’s lips twitch in understanding.
Xan comes trailing out a few moments later, fiddling with her phone and avoiding their eyes. “Can I call Lip?”
Both brothers look at her in confusion. “Why’re you asking?” Colin questions.
She shrugs. “Last foster parents were strict about phone use.”
That explains the lack of contact between Lip and Xan lately. Mickey clicks his tongue in annoyance - over-controlling parents were something else. “I was actually thinking we surprise him? He said he’s ordering pizza tonight. Up for that?”
She brightens up quickly, nodding. “Yeah, that’d be nice. When can we go?”
Mickey checks his phone. “Around six when Lip gets off work. Let’s finish unpacking your stuff.”
“Okay.”
Mickey and Xan walk to the Gallagher house close to seven, the little girl grinning to herself when she sees the house come into sight. Mickey knew ever since he first met her she wasn’t used to showing off emotions - like him - and spent a lot of time showing no reaction. When Lip took her under his wing, she opened up - slowly, but she opened up. Mickey knows she missed him dearly and is desperate to see the man who practically saved her life again.
Gallaghers hardly ever lock their door so Mickey isn’t surprised when he opens the front door and lets himself in. Carl and Kelly are sitting on the couch, grinning like two disgusting love-birds as they mess around with some hunting knives that most likely belong to Kelly. They don’t acknowledge Mickey or Xan as they walk by into the kitchen.
“Here, stay right there,” Mickey murmurs to Xan, gesturing for her to stand by the counter. She nods and does as she’s told, staying quiet. Mickey climbs up the first few steps on the stairs. “Hey, Lip!”
“One sec!” Lip calls back. Mickey waits until he sees Lip appear at the top of the stairs, grinning and meeting him halfway to give him a quick kiss. “You’re in a good mood,” Lip comments.
“Come on,” Mickey hums, jerking his head down the stairs and heading down. “Wanna show you something.”
“What is it?” Lip asks, following him down. Mickey hears Lip stop behind him, walking over to the counter and shooting Xan a smile before turning to look at Lip. The man is frozen on the last step, staring at Xan with wide eyes. He opens and closes his mouth for a moment before he rushes forward, enveloping Xan in a tight hug. She hugs him back, laughing slightly into his chest. “Oh my God,” Lip breathes out, pulling back to cup her face and smile. “What the hell are you doing here, Xan?”
“I got a new foster dad,” she answers, looking over at Mickey. “I live nearby now.”
Lip looks over at Mickey, confused at first but slowly understanding. He stands up straight, voice barely there. “You…?”
Mickey looks away, shrugging a shoulder. “Why else would I get a legal job?”
He makes a noise of surprise when Lip suddenly grabs him, kissing him hard and almost knocking him off his feet from practically colliding into him. “I love you,” Lip mutters between kisses, cupping Mickey’s face to keep him in place. “I love you. I love you so much.”
Mickey hears Xan laugh off to the side. His cheeks feel hot under Lip’s hands, almost melting at his words. Neither of them say it a lot, but that just makes it more special when they actually do.
“Hey, Xan!” They’re interrupted by Debbie’s greeting, separating as Franny comes barreling through the back door. Debbie sets her stuff down, shooting Xan a grin. “What’re you doing here?”
“Mickey’s fostering her,” Lip answers, looking at Mickey fondly. “She’s stuck with us now.”
Xan rolls her eyes, quickly distracted by Franny and running after her into the living room. Debbie smiles at Mickey and heads upstairs, probably to go clean up. Mickey punches Lip’s shoulder lightly. “You have no idea how much bullshit I went through to get a fostering license.”
“However much it was, I owe you,” Lip murmurs, yanking him close. “Big time.”
Mickey’s eyebrows raise, smirking at him. “I agree. You owe me at least five hundred bucks for all the expenses I spent trying to get that girl back to you.”
“Do I get a discount?” Lip hums, his hand pressing firmly to Mickey’s lower back.
Mickey shrugs. “What do you have to offer, Gallagher?”
“Well, I have pizza,” Lip hums, tilting his head down to kiss behind Mickey’s ear, “and a great mouth you could use.”
Mickey bites his lip, the image of Lip on his knees, staring up at him as he fucks his mouth making his cock twitch with interest. “That could be arranged.”
Lip smirks against his ear, teeth grazing along the edge of it just to make him shiver. “Good.” He steps back, looking a little smug at making Mickey flustered. His gaze softens after a moment, stepping closer again to kiss Mickey gently. “Seriously though,” he murmurs against his lips, “thank you.”
Mickey smiles against his lips, knocking his forehead against his gently. “Love you too, Lip.”